Yoon In-chon: "The term 'blacklist' did not even exist during the Lee Myung-bak administration"

Democratic Party's Allegation Offensive: "No Substance Exists"
Regarding Pressure for Agency Head's Resignation: "Not Due to Ideology"

Yoo In-chon, the nominee for Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, repeatedly denied allegations of a blacklist in the cultural and artistic sectors during his tenure as a minister under the Lee Myung-bak administration. On the 5th, during the confirmation hearing at the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, when the opposition party, the Democratic Party of Korea, focused on questioning the management and execution of the blacklist, he stated, "Let me be clear, at that time, the term 'blacklist' did not even exist. There was no actual entity."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Im Jong-sung, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, referred to documents reportedly prepared by the National Intelligence Service at the time, titled "Neutralizing the Anti-Government Political Activities of Pro-North Korean Forces in the Arts," claiming that "(Nominee Yoo) was directly briefed on this document about neutralizing pro-North Korean artists." When Yoo denied such facts, the Democratic Party presented the white paper on the blacklist incidents during the Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye administrations, compiled by the Truth Investigation and System Improvement Committee on the Cultural and Artistic Blacklist, as evidence. They raised their voices, saying, "Nominee Yoo's name is mentioned 104 times," and "Despite overwhelming evidence, he consistently shows no remorse and continues to deny the existence of the blacklist, which amounts to perjury."

Nominee Yoo countered, "This is the first time I have learned that my name was recorded 104 times," adding, "It is merely a one-sided record." He continued, "Regarding the Park Geun-hye administration's blacklist incident, ministers, senior presidential secretaries, administrative officers, and employees of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and its affiliated institutions were arrested and disciplined," and said, "I wonder why I was not arrested." He stated, "If you look into the white paper, it says 'someone said this in such a way.' Even if people on site disliked me, I never excluded them. I really want to know exactly how many people were excluded due to the blacklist during my tenure as minister."

Members of the ruling People Power Party unanimously defended nominee Yoo. Kim Seung-soo criticized the Democratic Party of Korea, saying, "They are continuously launching political attacks based on completely unfounded facts." Member Lee Yong also pointed out, "There were no lawsuits or complaints, so I don't understand why they suddenly claim that Yoo In-chon is the mastermind behind the blacklist." Hwang Bo-seung-hee added, "The Lee Myung-bak administration's National Intelligence Service blacklist was concluded in the white paper to have been operated as a 'NIS one-track' with almost no involvement from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Nominee Yoo also denied allegations that he pressured heads of affiliated institutions, such as Kim Yoon-soo, director of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, and Kim Jeong-heon, chairman of the Korea Arts & Culture Education Service, to resign during his tenure as minister. When Yoo Jeong-joo of the Democratic Party pointed out that courts ruled illegal in lawsuits filed by dismissed personnel, Yoo explained, "They were not dismissed because of ideology or because they were people from the previous administration. Various issues such as procedural problems and work competence were pointed out, so in the end, it was all political battles."

The hearing also addressed the issue of gift tax payment related to the purchase of apartments by nominee Yoo's two children. Im Oh-kyung of the Democratic Party referred to an apartment in Oksu-dong, Seongdong-gu, purchased in 2015 by his two sons, aged thirty-one and twenty-seven at the time, without collateral loans, and requested submission of gift tax documents. Nominee Yoo responded, "All gift taxes have been paid," adding, "They themselves refuse to disclose the information, so the notification was refused according to the guidelines."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.